Return Value

The ValueType.Equals(Object) method overrides Object.Equals(Object) and provides the default implementation of value equality for all value types in the .NET Framework.

If none of the fields of the current instance and obj are reference types, the Equals method performs a byte-by-byte comparison of the two objects in memory. Otherwise, it uses reflection to compare the corresponding fields of obj and this instance.

Tip

Particularly if your value type contains fields that are reference types, you should override the Equals(Object) method. This can improve performance and enable you to more closely represent the meaning of equality for the type.

When you call the Equalsmethod on a Windows Runtime structure, it provides the default behavior for value types that don’t override Equals. This is part of the support that the .NET Framework provides for the Windows Runtime (see .NET Framework Support for Windows Store Apps and Windows Runtime). Windows Runtime structures can’t override Equals, even if they’re written with C# or Visual Basic, because they can’t have methods. (In addition, structures in the Windows Runtime itself don’t inherit ValueType.) However, they appear to have ToString, Equals, and GetHashCode methods when you use them in your C# or Visual Basic code, and the .NET Framework provides the default behavior for these methods.